accountability

I saw a clip last night of the UCONN Women’s Basketball Coach, Geno Auriemma talking about the importance of body language in a game. “We put a huge premium on body language,” Auriemma said. “And if your body language is bad, you will never get in the game. Ever. I don’t care how good you are.” The Coach has set this expectation with his team and for him this applies whether you are in the game or sitting on the…Read more

Have you been in a situation at work that you are unsure of what to do? I am sure that this has happened to you in your career at some point along the way. It is a vulnerable place to be as a leader feeling like you should have all the answers. Although you are in the leadership role for what you know and what you can get done, it is just not possible for you to know everything. I…Read more

“The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example.” -John Wooden This quote was a good reminder to me that leaders have to set the tone no matter what is going on in the organization. Change is a constant and leaders are getting new information to process all the time. They need to discern if it is something to act on, share with their team, communicate to the rest of the organization or keep it to themselves. …Read more

Imagine that this is what is on your calendar this week…3 presentations, 15 meetings with various groups, 6 meetings with your direct team and your kids have two sporting events that you need to attend after work. Some of you may be thinking how on earth can that be real? I can tell you that it is absolutely real and the way that many people will be spending their week. It seems crazy, but this is actually probably conservative…Read more

When I first started out as a leader, I was much more directive than I should have been. I didn’t know another way to lead a team yet. Now many teams and many years later, I have learned that there is a much better way to lead. This style of leadership sets the vision for the organization, empowers the team and helps the team learn the skills they need to be successful. Being a leader who leverages coaching skills helps…Read more

I remember when I first became a leader of a team. I went to a training class for three days to learn how to be a leader. I learned a lot of things at that first session, but I didn’t have a whole lot of real life experience to apply at that point. However, I took those lessons to heart and began to lead my first team. Even though I tried really hard, I made many mistakes along the way. …Read more

Over the last few months I have been trying out a bullet journal to plan my business and my life. I had originally looked at this about a year ago on bulletjournal.com, but I never pursued using it. In June of this year, I somehow ran across an article talking about a woman using a bullet journal in a pretty creative way. I remembered that I had looked at it before, so I checked out her you tube videos. Her…Read more

Leaders need to focus their efforts on areas where they can add the most value. There is never a shortage of priorities, so what do you do? One of the biggest transitions for a new leader is that you no longer do things by yourself, but you need to get things done through others. Focus on delegation and accountability or it becomes very easy to fall into old habits of doing things yourself and you get overwhelmed. Doing things really…Read more

Have you worked with a leader who has trouble delegating and they need to do everything themselves? I have to admit that I had this issue the first time I had a really large team with multiple layers below me. I struggled to trust the managers who worked for me to make their own decisions and when they did things their way vs. my way, it would really frustrate me. One day I attended a leadership session and I…Read more

Client Question: “What can I do to learn if a company is a good fit for me as I am searching for a new job?”​​ Start off by looking at the website called Glassdoor. It offers the ability for ratings and feedback to be captured from current and past employees. It will give you a sense of what the culture is like, how the CEO is rated and potentially some salary information. Be mindful that there could be some feedback…Read more

Is there something that you want to learn, but haven’t mastered yet? Of course you have a list of those ideas either in your head or on paper. When you decide which one or two things you want to work on, then you can start to identify ways to get that knowledge quickly. In general, leaders are learners by nature and will find different ways to acquire that knowledge. You could read books, listen to podcasts and books, read articles,…Read more